What Does It Mean?

Roar! A beast's roar soon echoed through the air.

Minghui looked toward the sound and saw a Golden Leopard dart out of the darkness. Swift as the wind, it arrived within three meters in the blink of an eye.

"A top-tier agility-type Soul Beast, around two thousand years in strength. The disciple absorbing its Soul Ring probably has a Body Martial Soul in his legs." Minghui remained calm. He waited for it to spring forward first, then sidestepped and twisted around with an uppercut.

Bang! The blow landed beside the Golden Leopard's ear and smashed it straight into the ground.

It whimpered and shook its head repeatedly, clearly dazed by the hit.

As an agility-type Soul Beast, its energy body, formed according to its instincts and traits from life, was not particularly durable.

Minghui did not care about that. Firmly adhering to the principle of striking while the iron was hot, he leaped over and began beating the fallen leopard. He raised his leg and stomped hard on its slender waist, right where its kidney was, causing its limbs to stiffen on the spot.

Seeing this, he bent down, grabbed one of its legs, and began slamming it around.

It was only a little over two meters long and not very heavy, so he swung it around like a sandbag.

Before long, the Golden Leopard died before achieving anything, resignedly submitting as it exploded into a trembling mass of golden light.

Minghui did not hesitate either. He sat down and guided it into himself, once again using it to raise his Third Soul Ring.

With his previous experience, there was no suspense this time. He soon finished absorbing it, and the age of his Third Soul Ring successfully rose to ten thousand years, changing from purple to black.

"Teacher, the next one!" Heroic fervor surged in his chest as he shouted.

Another Beast Spirit soon ran out.

However, to his surprise, this one was only around a thousand years in strength. This puzzled him greatly. His teacher had only told him that absorbing one thousand-year Beast Spirit was generally enough for a disciple to complete a Black Iron-Grade Awakening. He had said nothing about the later grades. Did his teacher think this was enough?

But why did he feel that he was still far from done?

"Whatever. I'll defeat it and absorb it first." Minghui muttered to himself as he waited for it to charge over.

Then he activated his Third Soul Skill and easily dealt with it.

After advancing to the ten-thousand-year level, the Soul Power consumption of his Third Soul Skill had indeed dropped significantly, directly decreasing by half. Its power had increased greatly as well. The remnant soul of the Beast Spirit, which had only a thousand years of cultivation, was affected until its body seemed drained dry. It looked utterly weak and even had trouble walking.

The outcome was naturally obvious.

It was easy to absorb as well. This time, he chose to raise the age of his First Soul Ring, quickly elevating it to the thousand-year level.

All the remaining energy was poured into his Second Soul Ring.

"Why hasn't he awakened yet?" On the other side, Du Busi was secretly astonished.

"Teacher, the next one!" His disciple's voice soon came again.

Du Busi pondered briefly before releasing another thousand-year Beast Spirit, only for it to be easily defeated and absorbed by his disciple as well.

This time, a faint glow finally appeared behind his disciple's head. This was a sign that his Body Martial Soul was about to undergo its Second Awakening.

After releasing another thousand-year Beast Spirit, the thumb-sized phantom of the Pineal Gland Martial Soul began to shimmer with faint silver light.

Gritting his teeth, he released another one, and the silver light grew noticeably brighter.

His disciple called out again, and he released another. The Martial Soul's phantom shone brilliantly like a full moon, blooming with dazzling silver radiance and forming a radiant halo behind his disciple's head. It was extraordinarily mystical.

"Teacher, I still feel like it's not enough," his disciple Minghui's voice came again.

"The potential of this disciple's Martial Soul is simply heaven-defying!" Du Busi clicked his tongue and somewhat uneasily released another thousand-year Beast Spirit.

Minghui defeated it with ease and continued absorbing it.

Before long, he suddenly heard a hum beside his ears. His mind immediately became clear, his thoughts opened up, and things he had never understood before suddenly made sense. Things he could not remember suddenly came back to him, and his body became much lighter at that very moment.

It was as though some kind of shackle within his body had suddenly been unlocked.

The feeling was so wondrous that Minghui nearly moaned aloud.

But he held it in and continued absorbing the Beast Spirit energy that remained. However, after only a moment, he felt a distinct sense of rejection, signaling that his Martial Soul had become completely saturated.

He was unable to absorb all the remaining energy, though the remnant soul completely fused into his Body Martial Soul.

Minghui felt somewhat regretful, but he still calmed his mind and sensed the changes brought about by the Second Awakening of his Martial Soul.

With a thought, he activated the new ability gained from his Martial Soul's Second Awakening. After carefully experiencing it, he settled down again to sense the changes in his body. An indescribably profound sensation followed.

He felt as though every inch of his body was under his control. He even had the urge to control the Martial Souls within his body. With his Body Martial Soul activated, he could clearly sense the Radiant Plume Divine Bow Martial Soul hidden within his Martial Soul space.

The urge to reach out to it was exceptionally strong.

So he tried to make contact.

His consciousness spread along with his Spiritual Power and soon touched the Radiant Plume Divine Bow. A cool, aloof sensation followed.

He could sense the vast dual-attribute energy of light and ice contained within it. Delving deeper, the Azure Luan Beast Soul hidden inside came into view, carrying a refreshing breeze.

Minghui was stunned. Then, recalling that a Martial Soul was itself a part of a Soul Master's body, he suddenly understood something.

The soul controlled the brain, which controlled the flesh, and it also controlled the Martial Souls hidden within the body. As the pineal gland was an important hub connecting the flesh and soul, its function had been further strengthened after evolving. Naturally, that also meant greater control over the body.

And since a Martial Soul was part of a Soul Master's body, it naturally fell within that control as well.

"Doesn't that mean..." Minghui thought of a possibility and immediately tried it without hesitation.

Before long, delight appeared on his face, though it was mixed with a trace of regret.

Then he opened his eyes.

His teacher Du Busi's rugged features came into view. His expression was somewhat complicated, and there was a hint of confusion in his eyes.

"Teacher, my Martial Soul awakening succeeded!" Minghui instinctively greeted him with a smile.

Du Busi immediately came back to his senses and looked Minghui up and down, as though reassessing him. After a moment, he let out a long sigh and said quietly, "Hui'er, the potential of your Body Martial Soul is a little too heaven-defying. You've directly broken the Sect's three-thousand-year historical record."

"At the same time, you've left your teacher deeply puzzled—even bewildered."

"Why?" Minghui could not help asking.

"Do you remember what I told you before?" Du Busi said. "A Black Iron-Grade Second Awakening generally only requires absorbing one thousand-year Beast Spirit."

As he spoke, he glanced at the dazzling halo behind his disciple's head, formed by the silver light emitted from the Pineal Gland Martial Soul's phantom, and continued:

"And that thousand years means exactly one thousand years."

"After that, the Bronze grade requires two thousand years, and the Silver grade requires three thousand years. Of course, Martial Soul potential varies from person to person, so differences exist even within the same awakening grade."

"For example, for a Silver-Grade Awakening, the highest known absorption record is five thousand years. Your teacher is among them."

"But you have absorbed more than nine thousand years in total, equal to the combined age of your Martial Soul's Soul Rings before you came here. Hui'er, do you know what that means?"

It means I'm absurdly talented and awesome, Minghui thought, but he wore the expression of a curious child and humbly asked, "Teacher, what does that mean?"

"It means that the quality and potential of your Body Martial Soul exceed your physical constitution by twice as much." Du Busi raised his voice. "Under normal circumstances, a Martial Soul like that could not possibly awaken completely. Even if it did awaken, it would undergo a malignant mutation, causing it to degrade."

"It's like an embryo that cannot receive enough nourishment in the womb. Once born, it can only be underweight, weak at its foundation, and prone to illness."

Your body's foundation is too weak to support the awakening of such an overpowered Martial Soul. Minghui understood instantly.

Wasn't Yu Xiaogang exactly like that? The Golden Saint Dragon had degenerated into Luo Sanpao. If Tang San had not given him the Nine-Rank Purple Ganoderma, he would never have broken through to Rank 30 in his entire life.